Day trip from Cape Town to Cape of Good Hope, to penguin colony and Seal Island

30 August 2012

The Cape Peninsula, part of Table Mountain National Park in South Africa, offers picturesque landscapes culminating in the beauty of Cape of Good Hope. The area can be reached with a short day excursion from Cape Town and is known also for the presence of colonies of African Penguins and Fur Seals, both easily accessible rom the main road.

Cape Town photos. This Cape Town day tour begins traveling south along the Cape Peninsula and visiting Clifton and Camps bay with its large white sandy beaches.

The tour to Cape Peninsula continues in Hout Bay, a sheltered cove that houses a small harbor where dozens of sea lions are resting along the pier. From Hout Bay, a number of boats departs every few minutes for a cruise to Seal Island, a place interesting for the presence of a huge number of sea lions that live piled on the rocks.

Sea lions pictures. Seal Island consists of just a rock, where thousands of sea lions (in particular, Cape Fur seals) live. The boat trip from Hout Bay takes only a few minutes, and here you can appreciate a large number of fur seals huddled together over a very small space.

A photo of Hout Bay as seen from a lookout along the road that runs along Cape Peninsula.

Along Cape Peninsula there are numerous beaches of fine white sand. This picture is from Noordhoek beach, now deserted because of the low temperatures and the winds that characterize South African's winters.

This Cape Peninsula day tour continues to Cape of Good Hope, sometimes erroneously considered the southernmost point in Africa (the actual southernmost point in South Africa is instead Cape Agulhas, about 150km to the east, where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean). For the beauty of the landscape and the presence of numerous animal and plants, some of which endemic, the region is protected and included in the Table Mountain National Park area.

The vegetation at Cape of Good Hope is composed mainly of low shrubs and herbaceous plants because, due to the strong and persistent winds, any trees would not have an easy life.

Cape of Good Hope picture, seen from the path leading to Cape Point.

The landscape around Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point is dominated by wind swept cliffs. To the south, there is only the immensity of the ocean, without any barrier up to Antarctica.

Cape Point photos. The trail ends at Cape Point with a beautiful ocean view.

More photos of Cape of Good Hope (left picture) and Cape Peninsula as seen from Cape Point (right picture).

Along Cape Peninsula, not far from Cape of Good Hope and still inside Table Mountain National Park, there is a colony of African Penguin (or Cape Penguin - Spheniscus demersus).

Penguins pictures. This colony of African penguins live on Boulders Beach, not far from the houses.

With its large granite boulders, Boulders Beach vaguely resembles some tropical beaches of the Seychelles Islands.

Pictures of African penguin.

Picture of a juvenile African penguin.

Some penguins coming out of the water after a fishing trip.

Photos of penguins from Boluders Beach in South Africa.

Picture of mating penguins.

The charming bedroom, the bathroom and the rich breakfast served in a cozy dining room of the guest house in Cape Town (The Walden House).